The Squirrel Whisperer

The other day Hannah and I were out playing at the park (yes, it's been 70 degrees here!) and I noticed she was crouching down on the ground doing something. I went over to see what she was up to and I see a squirrel about 5 feet away from her. I asked her what she was doing. Her reply- "I'm teaching the squirrel to say milk".....and then she shows me the sign language for milk. She then turned around to the squirrel, did the sign, and said "milk, milk." Hmmmmm......a possible future career? What made it even more strange is that she never uses this sign with me. We have a baby sign language book and I've done the signs with her, but she rarely uses them. Another example of the amazing things that kids pick up on.

Weekend Cooking

If you had spent the weekend with us you could've played Rockband, driven up to the mountains in search of snow to play in, and eaten this:

Brown Butter Pistachio Financier with Saffron Ice Cream, Strawberry Puree, and Pistachio Dust

Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Going to Pre-school

What?!!!!

My little baby had her first day of pre-school and is potty trained. She's growing up so fast! It's funny because I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When Hannah was only a few days old I remember sitting on my bed, holding her and crying, and thinking "she's growing up so fast!" I can blame this on my crazy hormones at the time, but I've since talked with lots of other moms who've had the same experience. Your baby just changes so fast in those first few months and now I look back 2 1/2 years later and think "wow, she really has grown up so fast!"

Hannah all grown up- what is this look she has? A melancholy ship's captain?

At the Portland zoo

Goonie-face

Hannah right now:

1. has now graduated from saying "Seepy-eye booty" to "Sleeping Beauty"- I think that she held onto that one for a while because it got so many laughs

2. can be bribed to do anything for fruit snacks (not so unusual)

3. when I ask her what she wants to do for the day, she will usually respond "Go to Barnes & Noble or Tattered Cover"- she can't get enough books!

4. she likes to tell me what she dreams about- usually lizards and frogs

A recent conversation:

Me: Hannah, what do you want for breakfast?

Hannah: Cereal, with blueberries.....and some yogurt.....and a vitamin....and some chocolate milk. That's four things and that's enough.

Another one-this time during potty training

Me: Hannah, did you go yet?

Hannah: No Mommy. The poops are not coming.

Me: Where are they?

Hannah: They went to the post office.

Me, thinking: Of course

National Western Stock Show Parade

Yesterday we went outside to catch the parade. This is the first thing that you see coming at you- a bunch of longhorns being driven down the street. It's pretty crazy- kind of reminds you of the running of the bulls in Spain or something, only not nearly as dangerous. There were also lots of tractors, horses, cows, cowboys, and even Santa was riding a horse. Ronald McDonald made an appearance in cowboy boots as well. Hannah enjoyed it, although she kept on burying her face on my shoulder and saying that it was stinky.

These little dogs looked so cute pulling their covered wagon. Hannah thought that they were pulling their toys.

Top Chef: Oregon

Here's a preview of next season's Top Chef, this time filmed in Oregon. It goes to show, who needs all of those fancy restaurants in New York when you've got the Plaid Pantry?

Elimination Challenge: Convenience Store Cook-off

Each cheftestant drew knives to find out which course they would be cooking. Next, they were given a budget of $5 to spend at the local Plaid Pantry gas station, plus whatever was in the pantry. They had to do the shopping in 6 minutes. The first 4 courses had 20 minutes to prepare their dish, while the last two had 45 minutes. At the end of the challenge, each cheftestant had to guess which convenience store items were used in each dish.

Amuse -bouche: Breakfast duo

chocolate brownie ice cream, health bar, beef stick, bbq potato chip

Salad: Snicker Salad

Snickers, Hershey Bar

Side Dish: Lemon Scented Israeli Couscous

Lemon Heads, Lemon Crystal Light

Soup: Prehistoric Bean Soup

Nacho Cheese Chips

Main Dish: Shepherd's Pie

Green Beans

Dessert: Crispy French Toast Sticks with Red-Raspberry Vanilla Cream

Frosted Flakes, Melted Vanilla Ice Cream

You'll have to watch next Fall to see who wins!